Many accomplished performers and artists have been educated in the school, including Norah Jones, Erykah Badu, Adario Strange, Valarie Rae Miller, Edie Brickell, Kennedy Davenport, Sandra St. Victor, Roy Hargrove, Scott Westerfeld, and Cecil Eugene Moore Jr.

Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks is among the most notable graduates of the school previous to its conversion to the Arts Magnet.

Richardson, with the help of the NAACP, won the case, increasing general awareness of discrimination in the public school system.

The repurposing was part of the federal court desegregation orders that created the magnet school system in Dallas ISD (Tasby v. Estes[7]).

[10] The average class sizes at Washington are 20 students for English, 27 for foreign language, 19 for math, 22 for science, and 25 for social studies.